2020 Motorsports thread.

ralphc1 said:
Formula One hasn't done anything to make passing easier. Wider tires have made corner speeds faster and disturb more air in a straight line. Trying to stay close enough in the corners to use DRS wears out the tires.

Sunday, Mercedes seems to have turned the performance down. Red Bull might have benefited by crashing out of races early and putting less time on their engines.
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Mercedes could've cranked the power all the way up and I don't know if it would've added any excitement. I think the track design itself is the problem. I'm sure they were looking for any races to fill in the schedule, but I don't see where this one added anything to the sport (other than oil money). My suggestion which will never happen is to have sprinklers wet down the track for the entire race. If the track isn't going to conducive to passing then at least let there be a chance of a spinout or someone sliding.

My wife and I just started to get into F1 this year. We are amazed at how lopsided the competition is for the most part. We have remarked that it is odd to watch a sport and to have the broadcasters barely focus on the lead drivers. Hamilton was in the lead a few races ago, and you barely heard his name mentioned. Of course he was ten seconds ahead of second place because that's how it goes when he races for the most part. Hopefully the next set of engine changes and/or car changes bring the competition closer. Seeing Russell go from being in the back of the pack every race to look like an absolute stud really shows how far Mercedes is ahead with their cars.

On a side note, as a new fan it is really hard to find anything to like or dislike with the drivers. Other than Riccardo and Norris, they all seem like robots and are uninterested in interviews. I guess I'm use to seeing Nascar guys flip each other and yell at each other when they crash. Leclerc braking too late lead to Verstappen wrecking two races ago, and it looked like they walked back to garage together like best friends. Maybe that is the way things are done in Europe, and I just haven't gotten use to it.
 
wvboy said:
Mercedes could've cranked the power all the way up and I don't know if it would've added any excitement. I think the track design itself is the problem. I'm sure they were looking for any races to fill in the schedule, but I don't see where this one added anything to the sport (other than oil money). My suggestion which will never happen is to have sprinklers wet down the track for the entire race. If the track isn't going to conducive to passing then at least let there be a chance of a spinout or someone sliding.

My wife and I just started to get into F1 this year. We are amazed at how lopsided the competition is for the most part. We have remarked that it is odd to watch a sport and to have the broadcasters barely focus on the lead drivers. Hamilton was in the lead a few races ago, and you barely heard his name mentioned. Of course he was ten seconds ahead of second place because that's how it goes when he races for the most part. Hopefully the next set of engine changes and/or car changes bring the competition closer. Seeing Russell go from being in the back of the pack every race to look like an absolute stud really shows how far Mercedes is ahead with their cars.

On a side note, as a new fan it is really hard to find anything to like or dislike with the drivers. Other than Riccardo and Norris, they all seem like robots and are uninterested in interviews. I guess I'm use to seeing Nascar guys flip each other and yell at each other when they crash. Leclerc braking too late lead to Verstappen wrecking two races ago, and it looked like they walked back to garage together like best friends. Maybe that is the way things are done in Europe, and I just haven't gotten use to it.
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Formula One keeps trying to even the competition but it seems to have the opposite effect. The top three teams were very close just a couple of years ago. They are only allowed a certain amount of fuel to run the race. They also have flow meters to monitor the fuel flow. Ferrari was rumored to be manipulating the flow meter readings toward the end of last season. Ferrari had also been rumored to have a method to use oil for fuel when their cars would smoke profusely on startup. The FIA investigated and came to some arrangement with Ferrari that they won't disclose. After that, the Ferraris have been much slower.

As to the drivers, you will see a person with a recorder with almost every driver when they are interviewed. Those are public relations people who are there to remind drivers what to say to avoid offending anyone. They have been in place for about the last 5 years.
 
They've added more races for next season. I wonder if they will allow the teams to use more components and increase the team budgets.
 
ralphc1 said:
Formula One keeps trying to even the competition but it seems to have the opposite effect. The top three teams were very close just a couple of years ago. They are only allowed a certain amount of fuel to run the race. They also have flow meters to monitor the fuel flow. Ferrari was rumored to be manipulating the flow meter readings toward the end of last season. Ferrari had also been rumored to have a method to use oil for fuel when their cars would smoke profusely on startup. The FIA investigated and came to some arrangement with Ferrari that they won't disclose. After that, the Ferraris have been much slower.

As to the drivers, you will see a person with a recorder with almost every driver when they are interviewed. Those are public relations people who are there to remind drivers what to say to avoid offending anyone. They have been in place for about the last 5 years.
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I heard the commentators mention the Ferrari issue, but they never expanded on it very far. I don't have a good idea on how to bring the competition closer together again. Would it be possible to have a single F1 car body that everybody shares, and teams are allowed to individually configure the engine, transmission, and suspension? I like that teams are allowed to be individualistic, but there are some teams that were just simply setting fire to money each week (Haas, Williams, and Alfa Romeo). I read an article about limiting the amount of money teams spend each season, but I don't know if that will hurt or help in the long run.

They need to loosen up on the PR people then. I don't want to hear the drivers trashing on sponsors or fans, but if another drivers runs them off the road or hits their tire then starting talking about it with passion.
 
wvboy said:
I heard the commentators mention the Ferrari issue, but they never expanded on it very far. I don't have a good idea on how to bring the competition closer together again. Would it be possible to have a single F1 car body that everybody shares, and teams are allowed to individually configure the engine, transmission, and suspension? I like that teams are allowed to be individualistic, but there are some teams that were just simply setting fire to money each week (Haas, Williams, and Alfa Romeo). I read an article about limiting the amount of money teams spend each season, but I don't know if that will hurt or help in the long run.

They need to loosen up on the PR people then. I don't want to hear the drivers trashing on sponsors or fans, but if another drivers runs them off the road or hits their tire then starting talking about it with passion.
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The different manufacturers build their hybrid power trains and the cars have to be designed to fit them and the cooling packages they need. The teams also need to balance the handling of the cars through aerodynamics while not hurting straight line speed too much. If you make more power, you can use more down force. More power takes more fuel and the cars have a limit for each race. If the electrical regeneration is more efficient, it can harvest more power under braking that can be used to accelerate off the turns without using more fuel. Racing Point used Mercedes power plants but the cars can't be carbon copies so they can't run the same car as Mercedes does. There was quite a bit of controversy about Racing Points brake ducts because they appeared to be the same from the outside.

I don't know if Red Bull knows for certain where they will get their powerplants next year as Honda had announced that they were no longer going to supply them. Red Bull discussed taking over the Honda production. If they have to use a different engine, it might require some chassis redesign to fit something else in.
 
fingercuffs said:
He's done well since he left McLaren.
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yeah, Mclaren didnt go well for him. He´s a great driver, and tho it sucks for Albon, for him having to take the back seat at least for the next season, i think its a very smart idea from RB to give a driver like Perez the seat, cause it will not only strengthen the squad but it will also push Max to the limit ... me thinks :p
 
Nascar is moving the races from the boring 2 mile D shaped track in socal to the Daytona road course this year and the track owners are redesigning the track into a high banked short track.

Looks like Nascar is finally taking steps in the right direction after ignoring their fan base for a couple decades.
 
Sir Lewis still hasn’t signed a contract for 2021. Anyone think this doesn’t get done?
 
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